Combined desk organizer and calendar



Sept. 23, 1969 l. SMITH COMBINED DESK ORGANIZER AND CALENDAR Filed March 22, 1967 www M WL M/ y n L a United States Patent O 3,468,048 COMBINED DESK ORGANIZER AND CALENDAR Irving Smith, Flushing, N.Y. Arrow Art Finishers, 1201 Evergreen Ave., Bronx, N.Y. 10472) Filed Mar. 22, 1967, Ser. No. 625,168 Int. Cl. G09d 3/02; B42d 19/00 U.S. Cl. 40-107 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A combined desk organizer and calendar composed of an open top, closed bottom can around which a colored paper strip is rotatably supported with successive months of successive years imprinted seriatim thereon. Ensheathing the can and stirp is a fixed tube having an opening through which a single month of the calendar can be viewed at one time. The tube is slitted to permit the calendar strip to be withdrawn therethrough. A serrated metal tearing edge is provided on the slit. The slit constitutes one edge of a flap whereby the tearing edge can be swung back to expose the free end of the strip at such time as it is desired to grasp and pull said end in order to advance the month of the calendar viewed through the opening.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention A desk organizing receptacle combined with a strip calendar the viewable portion of which can be advanced by a user.

Description of the prior art Conventional desk calendars are essentially unifunctional devices. Where they are changeable, that is to say, where their construction is such that successive months may be presented to view to the exclusion of other months, they usually have to rely upon one or two arrangements. In one a top page is torn from a calendar pad or folded back over the top of the pad and in the other months and the calendar blocks are separately interchangeable with the calendar days of different blocks being presented in such fashion that the first day of the month of different blocks will start on different days of the week and every calendar block consists of thirtyone days. Neither of these arrangements is eflicient, the first because it requires binding and the substitution of a new calendar each year, and the second because it does not individualize the month involved, inasmuch as it shows every month with thirty-one days and does not, even if desired, indicate holidays in any special fashion.

Moreover, the unifunctional aspect of standard calendars renders them even more ineicient, particularly insofar as desk space is concerned. Space on a busy eX- ecutives or stenographers desk invariably is at a premium. Yet, a calendar serving only to indicate a day takes up considerable space that might be used to better advantage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of my invention to provide a new desk top article which will avoid the foregoing drawbacks.

More specifically, it is an object of my invention to provide a combined desk organizer and calendar in which the calendar is changeable to display successive months on an individualistic basis, individualistic in the sense that each month is associated with a specific year, each month as displayed has the proper number of days, and not eXtra days, and each month as displayed may include c ICC special printing or other devices to denote holidays, if desired.

It is another object of my invention to provide a combined desk organizer and calendar which constitutes relatively few and simple parts and can be made and sold inexpensively.

It is another object of my invention to provide a combined desk organizer and calendar which is neat and attractive in appearances and can be manipulated easily to change the months.

It is another object of my invention to provide a combined desk organizer and calendar in which, specifically, an arrangement is included to provide easy access to the free end of the calendar strip when the user Wishes to advance the month displayed.

Other objects of my invention in part will be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

My invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the device hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of my invention,

FIG. l is a perspective view of my new combined desk organizer and calendar;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are enlarged fragmentary sectional views taken substantially along the lines 2 2 and 3 3, respectively, of FIG. l;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the unrolled calendar strip; and

FIG. 5 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary sectional View of the desk organizer and calendar illustrating the end loop of the calendar strip which is rotatably mounted on the can of the desk organizer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The reference numeral 10 denotes the combined desk organizer and calendar of my present invention. The desk organizer section of the combined unit is indicated by the reference numeral 12 and consists of a can 14, e.g., a brass coated cold rolled steel can, of circular crosssection. The top of the can is open. The bottom of the can is closed by a disc 16 joined to the can by a locking chime 18. A rolled head 20 defines the top edge of the can. Both the bead and the chime form narrow squat outwardly protruding fianges at the upper and lower edges of the can. The can, due to its configuration, can function as a desk organizer, to wit, a receptacle in which a user can insert elongated articles of stationery such as pens, pencils, rulers, erasers, letter openers, crayons and stick erasers. As a desk organizer the construction of the can is entirely conventional. However, as soon will be seen, I coordinate this construction with a calendar arrangement of a unique type, so as to combine in a novel manner the desk organizer with a calendar strip.

The calendar with its cooperating parts effectively forms a cover for the cylindrical side wall of the can. Specifically, the calendar includes a calendar strip 22, an unrolled fragment of which, for convenience, is illustrated in FIG. 4. The inner portion of the calendar strip constitutes an anchor loop 24 a portion of which is illustrated in FIG. 5. Said loop constitutes one full 360 turn of the inner portion of the calendar strip, the turn being wrapped around the can. The inner end 26 of the calendar strip is secured, as by an adhesive 28, to the overlying convolution of the strip in order to form a definite loop 24. The loop as thus formed is of diameter slightly larger than the exterior diameter of the can. The loop is deliberately made a few hundredths of an inch larger, e.g., two hundredths of an inch, than the diameter of the can, so that the loop is free to rotate with respect to the can.

The calendar strip 22 has printed seriatirn thereon successive months of successive years. Each calendar month is identified by printing, setting forth the name 32 and the year 34 of the month. Furthermore, each calendar month includes a block of printing 36 in which the days of the months are arranged in a pattern of vertically aligned successive days of the week as is conventional in calendars. If desired, the days which have a special significance are suitably imprinted to denote that significance. For instance, if a day is a holiday, it may be printed in red in contrast, for example, to black printing for the balance of the days of the month. Or, as sometimes is the case, the day of a holiday may be omitted and some suitable design substituted to indicate the nature of the holiday. Still further, the date of the holiday and the design may be combined in a pleasing fashion as also is well known, all of these serving to individualize the calendar section of my unit as distinguished from the impersonal feeling created where changeable calendar strips are used that are composed of a succession of seven thirty-one day months (each starting on a different day of the week), leaving it up to the user to know that a certain month, although displayed with thirty-one days, actually has a lesser number of days.

The calendar strip 22 has a large number of successive months of several successive years imprinted thereon. In a desirable form of my invention, I print thirty-six months on the calendar strip, this being exclusive of the loop 24. These thirty-six months are a complete complement of months for three successive years. Obviously, however, my invention is not to be limited to a specific number of months.

The entire strip 22 is wound as a coil 38 about the can, successive convolutions of he coil building up successively over the loop 24 and the convolutions turning, i.e., winding in a progressive helical manner, about the loop 24.

The width of the calendar strip is less than the height l of the can, and the upper and lower edges of the strip are respectively below and above the bead 20 and the chime 18. If desired, and as shown, the calendar strip may be centered between the top and the bottom edges of the can, although this is simply a matter of choice. To take up the space between the top edge of the strip and the bead 20, and between the bottom edge of the strip and the chime 18, I provide fixed cardboard collars 40. The thickness of the collars preferably slightly exceeds by a few hundredths of an inch, e.g., three hundredths of an inch, the thickness of the coiled calendar strip as it originally is made, i.e., while it is still of full length (the thickness of the coil is reduced in use as will later be described). The space between the upper and lower collars is a few hundredths of an inch, c g., four hundredths of an inch, greater than the width of the coiled calendar strip. It thus will be appreciated that the can and collars form a broad shallow annular groove in which the coiled calendar strip is loosely accommodated in a manner such that the strip is free to turn with respect to the can, although there is a slight frictional restraint where the loop lightly engages the can, so that the coil can be turned by the application of a torquing force thereto, but will remain in the last position to which it is turned.

The can with its overlying fixed collars 40 and rotatable calendar strip coil 38 are ensheathed in a fixed tube 42 which in part serves as a decorative cover for the desk organizer, in part serves to outline an aperture for the current calendar month, and in part serves to facilitate withdrawal of the free outer end of the calendar 4 strip with consequent advancing of the month displayed by the aperture and also to facilitate removal of the withdrawn end of the strip.

More particularly, the tube 42 may be of any fiexible sheet material that can be tightly wrapped around the collars 40 and fixed thereto as by adhesive and that will provide a decorative cover for the desk organizer 12. Typical sheet materials are heavy paper, leather, leatherette, and plastic, the outer surface of which desirably is decoratively ornamental. 'Ihe upper edge of the tube 42 is coterminus with the upper edge of the top collar 40 and the lower edge of the tube is coterminus with the lower edge of the bottom collar 40, said upper and lower edges of the tube thereby being respectively adjacent the bottom of the bead 20 and the top of the chime 18, respectively, so that essentially the entire exterior surface of the can between its top and bottom edges is covered by the tube. In the drawings, and more particularly in FIG. 2, due to inability to show thickness proportionately small, the tube 42 has been shown as having an outer diameter in excess of those of the bead and chime. In actual practice, however, I prefer that the collars 40 and the coil 38 have an exterior diameter less than those of the bead and chime, so that the tube 42 does not protrude radially beyond the bead and chime and indeed may snugly lie against these two protruding elements so as to provide a neat and attractive appearance.

The tube 42 is provided with a rectangular calendar aperture 44. The aperture is located between the facing edges of the collars 40 whereby the top and bottom edges of the aperture are respectively below and above the top and bottom edges of the calendar coil 38 wound on the can. Specifically, the height and width of the aperture are such that they will nicely frame any given printed portrayal 30 consisting of a calendar month, a calendar year, and a block of calendar days, providing, of course, that such month is properly centered with respect to the aperture. The top and bottom edges of the aperture are properly registered with the calendar portrayals 30 on the coil for the foregoing purpose. Hence, by shifting the calendar coil with respect to the aperture a single month can be centered under the aperture so as to be fully viewable therethrough but the edges of the aperture will block out all portions of the preceding and the following months.

The tube 42 is tight on the desk organizer and specifically is tight on the fixed cardboard collars 40, so that it will not readily shift with respect thereto and indeed may even be adhesively attached to these collars so as to prevent shifting. However, the t-ube is not tight on the coil 38 in order thereby to enable the coil to be turned with slight frictional restraint with respect to the tube as well as with respect to the can 14 and the collars 40.

The tube 42 further is provided with a longitudinal slit 46, i.e., a slit running parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tube and can. This slit may be provided in any position on the tube which is cirumferentially spaced from the calendar aperture 44. The slit is in an otherwise imperforate portion of the tube. The length of the slit is slightly greater, e.g., one-sixteenth of an inch greater, than the width of the calendar strip, and the slit is registered with the strip so that the strip is centrally disposed with respect thereto.

The slit is an exit point for the free, i.e., outer, end 48 of the calendar strip. The purpose of the slit is to enable the free end of the calendar strip to be Withdrawn through the same after the displayed calendar month has come to a temporal end, the idea being that just enough of the strip is withdrawn through the slit to advance the coil sufficiently to center the next succeeding month in the calendar aperture 44. Thereafter, so much of the free end as has been withdrawn should be removed from the strip, eg., torn off. To assist in thus tearing oft the Withdrawn portion of the strip I provide the tube with a tearing edge in the form of a thin sheet metal slat 50 having a serrated edge 52. The serrated edge constitutes one of the edges of the slit 46, specifically, the rearmost edge, considering the direction of withdrawal of the calender strip through the slit as forward. Thereby, after the requisite length of calendar strip has been pulled out of the tube, the strip is torn against the rear edge of the slit and the removed portion discarded. The metal slat is secured to the inner surface of the tube adjacent the slit 46 in any suitable manner, as, for example, by an adhesive.

To vassist the -user in grasping the free end 48 of the calendar strip 22 when it is desired to advance the calendar month displayed in the aperture 44, the slit is modified to convert the rear edge thereof into the free edge of a flap 54. That is to say, one edge, the rearmost edge, of the slit is part of a flap, the flap being an integral part of the tube along its rearmost edge 56. Since the tube is formed of flexible sheet material, this rearmost edge serves as a unitary hinge, enabling the flap to be swung away from the underlying calendar coil when desired. By swinging the flap away from the coil a short section of the coil adjacent the free end 48 thereof is exposed. This enables a user to grasp the free end with his fingers at such time as he desires to withdraw a part of the coil through the slit.

After withdrawal of a short length of the coil is completed, enough to advance one month, the user presses the 'flap 54 back against the coil, as with his thumb, thereby holding the serrated edge against the coil and permitting it to serve as a tearing edge when the withdrawn part of the calender strip is ripped off.

Desirably, in order to maintain a neat and trim appearance for the unit and also to ensure that the serrated edge is held against the coil for a tearing operation, I provide means to bias the serrated edge radially inwardly against the calendar coil. Said means, as illustrated, simply comprises one or more lengths S8 of resilient material, e.g., a short length of spring steel, or, as illustrated, a short length of a plastic strip. The length of resilient material is disposed between the upper and lower edges of the ap with the longitudinal dimension of the length extending cirumferentially of the tube. yOne end of the length S8 is located adjacent the serrated edge 52 of the ap 54. The other end is spaced from the serrated edge in the direction of the hinge 56, being located behind the hinge. The length is secured to the tube as by adhesive.

Although the manner of using the combined desk organizer and calendar should be obvious from the foregoing description, the same will now be -briey set forth. In the first place, it will be observed that the superpositioning of the calendar on the desk organizer in no Way interferes with the normal use of the desk organizer whose top is always open for the admission of articles to be stored therein.

As to the calendar, let it be assumed that a month has just terminated and that it is desired to advance the month displayed through the indicating aperture `44. The ap 54 is swung about the hinge 56 away from the calendar coil so as to expose the free end 48 of said coil. The user reaches into the opening thus provided and grasps the exposed free edge, as with his thumb and forenger. The user pulls on the free edge while holding the can 14 stationary with his other hand. This causes the calendar coil to unwind and allows the free edge to be pulled out of the slit while the convoluted portion of the coil, including the loop 24, rotates about the can. Such rotation is`permitted because the loop is loose on the can and the collars 40 do not bear heavily against the upper and lower edges of the coil. The user continues to pull out the free edge until the next succeeding calendar month is centered in the aperture 44. He then stops pulling and permits the spring length 58 to press the serrated edge back against the coil. He then rips off the withdrawn part of the strip. If desired, he may at this time more firmly anchor the serrated edge by pressing against the same with his thumb.

It thus will -be seen that I have provided a device which achieves the several objects of my invention and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practial use.

As various possible embodiments might 'be made of the above invention and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the acompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A combined desk organizer and calendar comprising a can for storing a plurality of stationery articles such as pencils and pens, said can having an open top, a closed bottom and a cylindrical side wall, said open top having a diameter at least equal to the diameter of said cylindrical side wall and permitting easy access to the interior of said can, said open top diameter being sufficient to permit the simultaneous storage of a plurality of stationery articles within the can, an elongate coil paper calendar strip rotatably supported on the external surface of the can, means forming a loop at the inner end of said strip, said loop lightly frictionally engaging the external surface of the can and rotatable with respect thereto, said strip having imprinted along the length thereof in longitudinally aligned blocks successive months of successive years, a cylindrical open ended tube ensheathing the coiled strip and can, said tube being fixed with respect to the can, said tube having a calendar aperture therein through which one calendar month of the calendar strip can be viewed at a time, said tube also being provided with a longitudinal slit through which the free end of the strip can be withdrawn, said loop rotating with respect to the external surface of the can as the strip is withdrawn through said longitudinal slit, said slit having a rear tearing edge thereon for ripping off a withdrawn portion of the strip.

2. A combined desk organizer and calendar as set forth in claim 1 wherein the slit is the free edge of an elongated flap which is a unitary part of the tube and extends longitudinally thereof so that the flap can -be pulled back to expose the free end of the calendar stripwhen it is desired to grasp the same and withdraw a portion of the calendar strip.

3. A combined desk organizer and calendar as set forth in claim 2Y wherein the edge of the flap remote from the tearing edge is integrally hinged to the tube.

4. A combined desk organizer and calendar as set forth in claim 2 wherein the tearing edge constitutes a serrated metal slat.

5. A combined desk organizer and calendar strip as set forth in claim 2 wherein means is included to bias the flap toward the can.

6. A combined desk organizer and calendar as set forth in claim 1 wherein the tube is spaced from the can a distance slightly greater than the thickness of the coiled paper calendar strip.

7. A combined desk organizer and calendar as set forth in claim 1 wherein collars are fixed to the can adjacent its upper and lower edges and wherein the tube is xed to the collars thereby to dene between the collars and the can a broad shallow annular groove the top of which is closed by the tu-be, the breadth of the groove slightly exceeding the width of the coiled strip and the depth of the groove slightly exceeding the thickness of the coiled strip, the aperture lbeing over the groove.

(References on following page) 7 8 References Cited FOREIGN PATENTS UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,365,709 5/1964 France.

13,156 9/1915 Great Britain. 1,430,112 9/1922 Pe'y 40-116 1,496,041 6/1924 Wenzel 40 116 X 5 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner 2,844,893 7/1958 Keller 40-306 WENCESLAO I. CONTRERAS, Assistant Examiner 

